Rumor: Switch 2 Day One Patch Is Only For Switch 1 Games

There’s an interesting follow up rumor to what has been a brewing controversy for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Last week, a rumor spread that Switch 2 consoles would not be usable without a day one patch. The reason the rumor spread at all was because some Switch 2 consoles broke street date, and people tried to use those consoles. At the time, they found that they couldn’t play their Nintendo Switch games on the Switch 2, because none of them also got their hands on any leaked Switch 2 games.

This created huge discourse, as some people started claiming that Nintendo had blocked the ability to use the console without the day one patch. If this rumor is true, that would amount to anti-consumer DRM.

But this speculation, which was itself based on leaks and rumors, was not driven by research or any attempt to clear misinformation. A few hours later, it came to light that another consumer who got a Switch 2 early bypassed the day one patch notification screen and could access the console’s menus. Based on this rumor, it wasn’t like the entire console was locked out without the patch.

Now, Necro Felipe claims that the day one patch is only necessary to play Switch games. He cites one Neo_arcadia7, who confirmed for him that Switch 2 and Switch 2 Edition games will be playable on the Switch 2 out of the box.

While some gamers will take this as confirmation that the first rumor has been debunked, we want to remind you of one thing. Everything that’s been talked about here is entirely rumor and speculation. We don’t actually know for sure what functions are blocked or not blocked on the Switch 2 until its actual launch later this week.

We’ll put forward some completely unfounded speculation of our own: Nintendo knew that it wasn’t possible to keep their consoles safe from leaking in advance by nature of how global shipping operates. And so, they have built in timers for this launch batch of Switch 2 consoles so that they won’t work until the actual launch day.

We have no basis for this speculation, but you’ll find it’s just as credible as many of the other claims and speculations you’ll find online. It’s that easy to come up with something that sounds credible, and confirms your priors, and is completely disconnected from reality. Ultimately, we’ll find out for sure how the Switch 2 functions at launch, on launch day.